Ahmadinejad's Kristallnacht

The "Jews" this time are the Bahá'í; they number perhaps a quarter million out of Iran's 65 million.  (There were half a million Jews in Hitler's Germany out of a population of 67 million.)  It is not their race that makes the Bahá'í targets, but their apostasy and heterodoxy:  their faith "preaches peace, tolerance and diversity of thought."  But the tactics being used against them are so chillingly familiar it makes you do a double take.

My brother sent me this; it's written by his congressman, Mark Kirk.

Then They Came for the Baha'is

By Mark Kirk

As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes the stage today to address students at Columbia University, his government is working at his direction to find and expel students from Iranian universities—solely based on the religion they practice.

There is a little-told story from Iran—a story we thought would forever stay buried in the darkness of 1930s Europe.  This story is about a religion founded in Iran in the mid-1800s that has become Iran's largest religious minority with over 250,000 members.

The Baha'i faith preaches peace, tolerance and diversity of thought—threatening values to an oppressive Islamic dictatorship.

In March of 2006, just a few months into Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Command Headquarters of Iran's Armed Forces ordered the police, Revolutionary Guard and Ministry of Information to identify all Baha'is and collect information on their activities.

Two months later, the Iranian Association of Chambers of Commerce began compiling a list of Baha'is serving in every business sector.

In May of last year, 54 Baha'is were arrested in Shiraz and held for several days without trial—the largest roundup of Baha'is since the 1980s.  Then in August, Iran's feared Ministry of the Interior ordered provincial officials to "cautiously and carefully monitor and manage" all Baha'i social activities.  The Central Security Office of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology ordered 81 Iranian universities to expel any student discovered to be a Baha'i.  A letter issued in November from one university stated that it is Iranian policy to prevent Baha'is from enrolling in universities and to expel Baha'is upon discovery.

This year, the safety of Iranian Baha'is continued to deteriorate.  This year, 104 Baha'is were expelled from Iranian universities.  In February, police in Tehran and surrounding towns entered Baha'i homes and businesses to collect details on family members.  The First Branch of the Falard Public Court refused to hear a lawsuit "due to the plaintiffs' belonging to the Bahaist sect."

In April, the Iranian Public Intelligence and Security Force ordered 25 industries to deny business licenses to Baha'is.  The Ministry of Information threatened to shut down one company unless it fired all Baha'i employees.  Banks are closing Baha'i accounts and refusing loans to Baha'i applicants.  Just last week, the Iranian government bulldozed a Baha'i cemetery, erasing the memory of thousands of Iranian citizens.

The U.S. State Department's 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom paints an even darker picture.

"Broad restrictions on Bahá'ís severely undermined their ability to function as a community. The Government repeatedly offers Bahá'ís relief from mistreatment in exchange for recanting their faith.

"Bahá'ís may not teach or practice their faith or maintain links with coreligionists abroad. Bahá'ís are often officially charged with "espionage on behalf of Zionism"…

"Since late 2005 Bahá'ís have faced an increasing number of public attacks…Radio and television broadcasts have also increasingly condemned the Bahá'ís and their religion…

"Public and private universities continued either to deny admittance to or expel Bahá'í students."

We have seen this movie before—the opening scenes of one of the most horrific episodes in human history.  What happened to our solemn promise of 'never again' made in 1945?

Never again would the international community stay silent about laws banning one group from attending school.  Never again would we ignore orders to register with the government and report on your family's whereabouts.  Never again would we welcome a leader who has ordered a religious minority to be subject to secret police monitors and nightly round-ups.

As President Ahmadinejad rises to address the General Assembly, the General Assembly must rise in condemnation of his systematic campaign to cleanse Iran of Baha'is.

As President Ahmadinejad rises to address the student body, Columbia President Lee Bollinger must rise in defense of every Baha'i student expelled from an Iranian university.

This is a defining moment for our new century.  The lessons of the 20th century gave us all the warning signs of what will come if we do not speak out.  The Iranian President has spoken – will we?

"Then they came for…" the Baha'is  -- we pray the poem ends differently this time.

Rep. Mark Kirk represents the 10th Congressional District of Illinois.  He is the co-chair of the House Iran Working Group and a member of the Human Rights Caucus.

Comments

[Internet Ronin]

Trivia of the day: Actress Barbara Hale (Della Street in Perry Mason)has been an adherent of the Bahá'í Faith for decades.

[Danny]

Not to mention Seals & Croft, Dizzy Gillespie, actor Rainn Wilson, and my wife's favorite actress of all time, Carole Lombard.

Horrifying article with lots of parallels to early Nazi Germany. I didn't see any mention of this in the reports about Ahmadinejad's meeting at Columbia today, but he certainly was full of priceless pearls about the Holocaust and other issues. And what a relief it must be for him that there are NO homosexuals in his country. I guess those two gay teenagers who were executed for "homosexual crimes" last July in Mashhad were mistaken about their preference.

[Mary]

"Then they came for…" the Baha'is -- we pray the poem ends differently this time.

Still no reason for the United States to consider attacking Iran at this time.

I'm wary of a post that starts out, "Ahmadinejad's Kristallnacht. The "Jews" this time are the Baha'i" because of what might now be urged on America.

Besides, I thought Hussein was the "next Hitler". Wouldn't this make Ahmadinejad HilterII if we're continuing with that rhetoric? And shouldn't we all be wary of that kind of labeling, considering how well it worked out the last time it was employed?

There's a beautiful Baha'i temple in Wilmette, Illinois. I wonder if that's in the 10th Congressional District.

[wj]

Danny, actually the Baha'is did get mentioned at Columbia. They were among the groups that get attacked by the government in Iran that Columbia's President specifically brought up in his bitingly critical introduction. (My local news station played exerpts, and I heard him with my own ears.)

[bilo]

Thank you for posting on this. Your thoughts and words are deeply appreciated.

[Andrew]

With all due respect to your comment that the Baha'i preach "peace, tolerance and diversity of thought," this is simply no more true of the Baha'i than it is of the Shi'i who oppose them. The Baha'i are profoundly intolerant toward those within their own Faith who question any of its tenets (they have disenrolled and shunned several dissident Baha'i scholars over the past few years), but the worst treatment is reserved for so-called "practicing" homosexuals. The following links might serve to put the matter into clearer perspective:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bah.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_Bah%C3%A1'%C3%AD_Faith

http://www.bahairants.com/yes-virginia-gay-bahais-do-exist-250.html

http://bob.seldo.com/?p=361

http://bahaisonline.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1377&Itemid=2

I've known many Baha'i in same-sex relationships who've been treated worse than criminals by their communities (to put it mildly), shunned and cast out of what they were initially led to believe was a progressive and inclusive religion. I don't wish to offer any excuse for the horrid treatment Iran metes out to its Baha'i citizens; however, the last time I checked, the highway runs both ways, and those who wish mercy for themselves must also demonstrate it to others.

[amba]

Thanks, Andrew. I find that doesn't really surprise me. Saints, among others, may be persecuted, but persecution doesn't create saints. The Baha'i are human and their organization is susceptible to all the normal pathologies (if we can call it that) of human organizations.

Still, it's interesting to note the limitations on the Baha'i's' tolerant, inclusive ideas, and the dissonance between ideals and behavior. No one can be completely inclusive, but where we draw the line has changed. Increasingly, we draw it on the basis of "conduct not category."